A new Raiders fan gets caught up in the feud with Kansas City

Now that I’m knee deep into this Oakland Raiders-Kansas City Chiefs rivalry — and most assuredly on the wrong side in these parts — let me say I’m a little antsy about Thursday night’s big game at Arrowhead Stadium.

The Chiefs seem to have some magic working and despite all the grumbling about quarterback Alex Smith and the lack of imagination on offense, they’re winning games at a remarkable clip. Kansas City is 19-3 over its past 22 regular-season games, so what do you say we cease with the grousing?

When St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke uprooted the team and moved back to Los Angeles after the 2015 season, I needed a new team. My affinity for St. Louis teams in the NFL dated back to the Cardinals and was re-ignited when the Rams moved to St. Louis from LA in 1995.

I spent the next 21 seasons as a Rams fan with one reward, The “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams produced one Super Bowl winner and a 56-24 record over five seasons from 1999-2003.

Otherwise, the Rams were 86-169-1 in the other 16 St. Louis seasons, a mess of mismanagement and apathy. It was depressing and in some ways I was glad they left because it gave me a chance to pick a new team from the pack, a new team to follow.

I took my time. This was a big decision — after all, it would be pretty lonely going through an NFL season without a team to root for.

But after 21 seasons of the Rams, could the loneliness be any worse?

I decided early I wasn’t going to take the easy way and become a fan of, say, the New England Patriots. I do like the Pats and consider myself to be a Tom Brady fan. But I’m not going to jump to the best team in the NFL and pretend it’s my team.

I considered seven teams: Tennessee (watch out for Marcus Mariota), San Diego (love the city), Washington (owner Daniel Snyder notwithstanding), Detroit (reminds me of Barry Sanders), New Orleans (I’m a Drew Brees guy), Arizona (I had a fling with the Cardinals after St. Louis moved to Phoenix), and Oakland (the silver and black).

The Raiders have always been one of the NFL’s marquee franchises. And I write that with a full understanding that since losing to Tampa Bay in Super Bowl XXXVII, Oakland was 63-145 from 2003-15.

As my interest in the Raiders grew, my friends became more concerned. Why Oakland? Haven’t you suffered enough with the Rams?

But I saw something in this Raiders team. I saw a quarterback, Derek Carr, ready to take off. I saw a young group of receivers and a roll-the-dice coach, Jack Del Rio. And I’ve always secretly admired the crazy, wild, rebellious aspect to being a Raiders fan. Who doesn’t want to put on some face paint and revel in some skull-and-crossbones fun now and then?

Looks like I made a good choice. The only team better than the 9-3 Chiefs in the AFC West are the 10-2 Raiders, who have been exciting to follow. Carr is an MVP candidate and except for this defense, which couldn’t stop me from running the football up the gut, there is reason for a high level of optimism.

The Chiefs, however, loom.

I’m not going to crack on Kansas City, at least publicly. Not with the way the Chiefs have been playing. They’re finding miraculous ways to win games, although divine intervention wasn’t needed back on Oct. 17 when KC went to Oakland and made the Raiders’ offense impotent in a 26-10 win.

Spencer Ware rushed for 131 yards on 24 carries and Carr was pedestrian, completing 22 of 34 passes and accumulating his third-lowest passer rating of the season.

The Raiders have topped 30 points in 5 of 6 games since and had 27 in the other.

I don’t recall anticipating a game the way I’m looking forward to the one Thursday. It makes me nervous, probably because I’m a Raiders fan in Chiefs Country and the two teams are neck and neck.

There hasn’t been a Raiders-Chiefs game comparable to this in magnitude, in fact, since 1969, when both franchises were part of the American Football League. Going into their Dec. 14 matchup in Oakland, the Raiders were 11-1-1 and the Chiefs were 11-2. Oakland won 10-6, but lost to the Chiefs 17-7 in the AFL championship game in Oakland three weeks later. KC went on to beat the Minnesota Vikings for its only Super Bowl win.

A good chunk of the Raiders-Chiefs rivalry that simmers to this day was put over a flame during that 1969 season.

It’s good to have these games mean something again. Best of luck to all of you Chiefs fans, but you know I don’t mean it.

This story was originally published December 5, 2016 at 3:41 PM with the headline "A new Raiders fan gets caught up in the feud with Kansas City."